1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to interconnects or contacts for conductors in a flat electrical circuit and, in particular, to such interconnects which have a pointed, serial or continuous supported bulge configuration, such as one or more upsets, e.g. V-shaped and hollow shaped, wrinkles, folds and creases, in both one or more of the conductors in the circuit and any insulation underlying the conductors at the sites of the interconnects.
2. Description of Related Art and Other Considerations
The interconnection of the electronic components, especially high density electronic components and printed wiring boards, presents recurring problems for which multitudes of solutions have been presented. Conventionally, micro-connectors, because of their small sizes, require soldering or other very expensive techniques. In particular, most connectors cannot handle a 3 mil to 5 mil (0.0762 mm to 0.1270 mm) or smaller line width and spacing in an efficient manner.
Accordingly, many conventional interconnection systems utilize pads or electrically conductive dots as a means of providing the interconnection, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,125,310 and 4,453,795. These patents describe a plurality of generally resilient metallic raised projections. In the latter patent, a resilient backup mechanism is used to avoid overstressing and squashing of the resilient projections or contacts beyond their elastic limit, which overstressing precludes repeated mating and unmating of connectors incorporating such projections. While these terminations otherwise effectively and reliably interconnect mating circuits, their manufacture can be difficult, time consuming and costly. Furthermore, the manufacturing process for forming such bumps is limited to a size of about 2 mil (0.0508 mm) in diameter.
In addition, such bumps require proper support, without placing them at hazard to delamination due to outgassing from support materials during or after production or to inattention to thermal matching with its surrounding materials, or to possible electrical or chemical interaction with the surrounding materials.